The present invention relates to cat litters and, in particular, to a biodegradable, scoopable cat litter which has been improved to be dustless.
Pet owners and particularly urban cat owners have numerous concerns pertaining to the care and maintenance of their pets. An ever present concern is collecting and disposing of animal wastes. A secondary concern is masking related odors, pending disposal.
For cat owners, the predominate mechanism for collecting and disposing of the wastes is a so called "cat litter". Typically, the cat litter is contained in a "litter box" that is placed about the residence of the pet owner and where the cat over time becomes accustomed to urinating and defecating. The liquids of the feces and urine are absorbed by the cat litter, which is periodically cleaned or discarded.
Commonly used litters provide a base material of clay, sand, gravel, sawdust or wood chips. Deodorants or masking scents are frequently added to the base material to mask any odor, pending collection. Such deodorizers can be added directly to the particulate or be impregnated into an absorbent carrier. Depending upon the aroma and, if the cat is being trained to use an odoriferous mixture, the cat may either accept or reject the litter.
Another litter is a so called "scoopable" litter. Such litters typically are comprised of a clay base and to which a deodorizer may be added, along with a hydrophilic material. The hydrophilic material reacts with the water in the urine and fecal matter to coalesce and produce clumps of litter where the animal has urinated or defecated. These clumps can be scooped from the container and disposed of along with any solid feces. A difficulty encountered with scoopable litters is that a relatively soft or fragile clump of waste matter is formed with the hydrophilic action.
With subsequent use of the container by the same or multiple cats, the cats frequently break and remix the clumped matter into the litter, unless the pet owner regularly cleans the litter box. With any re-mixing of the waste matter, the pet owner is faced with the same problems as with a non-scoopable litter. For example, should the cats have worms or other digestive tract parasites, any re-mixing of the waste matter re-releases the parasites, which can spread amongst the cats and even possibly to other pets.
Another difficulty is that cats tend to exhibit a preference for certain litters. Once trained to use one litter, a cat may reject another, even if offering improvements.
A further difficulty of clay based litters arises from disposal by pet owners into community sewer systems. That is, many pet owners flush the used litter or clumped fecal matter into their toilet. Because clay is not susceptible to decomposition, the particles can collect and obstruct the plumbing and sewage system conduits. The problem is of special concern in large municipalities or metropolitan areas. Preferably, all the litter ingredients should comprise materials which decompose in a relatively short time.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,216,980 and 5,361,719, which have issued to applicant, disclose litter additives and mixtures that have solved many of the foregoing difficulties.
Various pelletized, absorbent litters, using some similar ingredients to those of applicant, and related manufacturing processes are also described at U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,983,842; 4,206,718; 4,217,858; 4,341,180; 4,519,340; 4,571,389; 4,883,021; 5,100,600; Japan Patent No. 94,043; and European Patent No. 76,122.
In spite of the improvements provided by applicant's litter additives and mixtures, a problem common to all litters and shared by all manufacturers and pet owners is the dust or fines present in the litter mixtures. During mixing and packaging, air filtration equipment can be used to collect and filter the dust. Such measures are principally implemented to protect the workers. The mixture, however, is not treated to remove the dust present in the ingredients.
Once the packaged mixture is opened and dispensed into the litter box, the trapped dust is released into the pet owner's home. With normal agitation of the litter, during cleaning and use by the pet, the dust is continually released. Many pet owners have expressed displeasure over the lack of a dustless litter.
Accordingly, applicant has developed further improved, dustless litter and litter additive mixtures which produce relatively hard clumps of encapsulated animal waste that do not break up with continuing use of the litter by one or more cats. Desirably, the mixtures are dust free, the ingredients are biodegradable and present no health risks to the cat or pet owner, and promote hydration. The mixtures may include fragrances for masking or neutralizing odors and/or attracting the cat to minimize rejection of the litter.